Concentration lapse while driving - Share yours

This is a discussion on Concentration lapse while driving - Share yours within Drive Safe, part of the Road Safety category; Originally Posted by saket77
Apart from sleep, what you may have experienced could be Highway Hypnosis! You can google the ...

Apart from sleep, what you may have experienced could be Highway Hypnosis! You can google the term and there will be something interesting to read!

Whoa! What did I just read. Are my reflexes still adequately quick when experiencing highway hypnosis?

I think you might be right because it was a long drive and we used to go on very frequent long road trips but then was I really aware of the surroundings at that time? Its a little unbelievable that you could be experiencing something like this and still make it home in one piece.

You have a misunderstanding here. For whatever been the reason, if a vehicle rams from behind then the vehicle at rear is always at fault. As per law you are supposed to maintain sufficient space that will give you enough room to react even in case of panic braking by the lead vehicle.

Cheers!

Agreed with the space part. I never said mistake was not mine . Maybe not as per the law , but I just feel the share auto and the guy in front of me are also responsible. Share autos in Hyderabad drive like pilots . They don't turn , they bank their autos right or left .

Bad start for the day as I was upset with the missus over something. My mistake was that I carried over that mindset to my office commute. On the two-lane road before joining the highway, my mind goes auto-pilot and at the last minute I realize that I'm overtaking a Santro and there's an auto coming towards me. I brake hard but that doesn't seem to be enough. I have a split-second decision to make and I decide to merge back to the lane even if it meant grazing the Santro as it was better than hitting the auto head-on. The lady driving the Santro swerves to avoid me and the incident end with my right ORVM brushing the auto.

I drive the rest of the way in guilt and shame. While I was waiting in queue to enter the office parking, the lady in the Santro stops beside me and gives me an earful. I was too ashamed to respond, and the lady drove away.

So to that lady and the auto driver, I acted stupid and an apology is the least I can do for my mistake. It was not intentional and I'm sorry for my action. My learning - having a perfect mindset, concentrating only on the road is absolutely necessary while we drive. We have enough morons on Bangalore roads. I don't want to add myself to that list.

But then, if your eye itches, the reaction is quite automatic. Except while you are driving, it's probably not a very good idea - because that's when you lose peripheral vision to that side. A few seconds of peripheral vision loss isn't too bad, especially if you are driving on a fairly empty carriageway - until a madman comes up on your blind side. And blindsides you.

7:20 am today, and I was happily driving along the Ring Road in Delhi, heading from South Extension towards Lajpat Nagar and onwards. That's when my left eye decided to itch. Watch what happens thereafter.

But it seemed to be absolutely the corolla's fault!! Did the vehicle brush with your Scorpio? Good that the driver of the corolla regained control without hitting anybody else and also the truck braked on time.

But it seemed to be absolutely the corolla's fault!! Did the vehicle brush with your Scorpio?

If I didn't lose peripheral vision on the left side, I'd have caught him coming up in my left mirror and could have taken avoiding action such as braking in and letting him through without hitting my car.

Oh boy, that corolla lost rear bumper too. Once such a thing happened with the safari too. I went home with two bumpers. One safari's own, and another Alto bumper left hanging on the bullbar beam(partial bumper to be precise)

That is sad. It is absolutely irritating to see our beloved vehicle take damage due to a mistake of a reckless driver.
And what was that damn driver thinking ?
I think it is the irresponsible driver more than your eye that has to be blamed.
On the side note, If I had a powerful sturdy SUV with a bull bar, I'd have chased down him and rammed his butt and would leave with a

I know that there have been many incidents with falling asleep while on the wheel but most of them escape relatively unharmed. I was not so fortunate (yet still very fortunate).
It was 8 in the morning. I was driving an Innova with 2 other friends on the Taj Expressway. We had had a late night the previous night but I had 2 cups of coffee before starting and was drinking coke all the way. Since both my friends were asleep I was trying to maintain a speed of 90 kmph. I was a bit drowsy and my eyes shut for a few seconds. Next thing I knew, I had a tyre blowout, my car was travelling at 120 and was inches away from a pole. I braked hard and swerved but to no avail. My car struck the pole and flipped over 3 time finally coming to a rest due to the side railing. Never have I ever felt so much fear. Luckily we all escape relatively unscathed. No major injuries. But the car was completely totalled. So bad that it had to be sold off as scrap. Took me a good 4 months to get back to driving again. Never again. I am so afraid of that incident that my body stops driving if I feel sleepy even if I want to. It just doesn't oblige.

I know that there have been many incidents with falling asleep while on the wheel but most of them escape relatively unharmed. I was not so fortunate (yet still very fortunate).

Well I was pretty fortunate in that case Vikram.

Happened with me about 10 years back. I had a Maruti Omni at that time. My father was posted in Chandigarh and he used to come to Delhi (Dwarka) every weekend. I used to drop him on Monday at about 4 -5 in the morning at NH-1 GT karnal bypass.

One fine day, I had just dropped him and was travelling back to Dwarka taking the outer ring road. Had been driving for 6-7 years by that time but had never felt like this. My eyes were drooping but I had kept them open somehow. I did not even realize when they actually closed. It must have been for a fraction of a second, I don't really know, but the next thing I realized was that my car was going diagonally towards the roadside. I just got the control and swerved it else I would have fallen in a 4 feet deep ditch.

After getting the control, I got down and washed my face with water realizing how lucky it was for me to escape an accident that could have been terrible. That day till today, the moment I feel sleepy, I get down from the car, wash my face, stretch or maybe stop over for tea/ coffee. Anything but I don't drive when I am sleepy.

It was during December 2010 when I had to proceed on a long journey of 700 odd Kms with family at night from Mumbai in our Car. We left Mumbai at around 3:00 a.m and reached the destination at around 1:00 p.m.

As it was a very hectic day, I could not find any time to sleep or to take some rest. Besides, there was urgent work requirement in my office and I was required to be there, the day after. My Solution: I did skip the whole night sleep in order to expedite the things and get them completed before 11:00 a.m next day. This was to ensure that I start on my return journey quickly and reach Mumbai by evening. I wanted to have a good night sleep, thereafter.

However things did not move as per the wish and I was able to start my return journey only by 3:00 p.m. By 9:30 P.M, we were still in Satara. Meanwhile, sleeplessness and fatigue had started taking their toll on me. At around 12:50 midnight, we had crossed Khandala and I was cruising at around 100+ Kmph speed, whilst wifey and kids had already dozed off. My eyes were also getting desperate to call it a day, but I kept resisting them. At one straight stretch the strained eyes overpowered my consciousness and unknowingly took me into deep sleep.

Just then, I was awakened by a loud horn from a lorry passing by, only to find that our car was some few metres (50-60) away from a sharp hairpin bend. "Goosh", I screamed and braked hard to control the car and complete the bending maneuver. Wife was awakened by the sound / jerks, and was shocked to see the situation we were in to. I pulled the car aside and stopped there for a while and thanked god, stars, planets, Zodiac signs and all that we could count at that moment of time, before starting again and reaching Mumbai safely.

We have crossed this particular section several times thereafter and each time wifey recollects this incident and reminds me to drive only after taking rest.

Lesson learnt: Never venture into driving, when ample sleep and rest are not taken.

We have crossed this particular section several times thereafter and each time wifey recollects this incident and reminds me to drive only after taking rest.

Lesson learnt: Never venture into driving, when ample sleep and rest are not taken.

well, Indeed lesson learnt the had way. I too landed into a similar situation at 12.30 am. Found myself 100 mts from a divider after cruising through a single lane NH. Perhaps it was just 3 seconds of dozing but that's all it takes. And yes it will be the most memorable nap I ever took.

6 years back, In my brother-in-law's Alto, I was on a coorg trip with wife, 2 kids and my brother-in law and his wife travelling with us. I was on the steering. On our way back, between Hunsur and Mysore, my younger son (he was just 1 year then) wanted to move from the front seat to the rear seat. I was cruising along at approximately 50 kmph, but suddenly my attention was distracted by my son who moved to the rear seat. In the split second, I could notice that the Alto went off the road to the left and we were about to land in a ditch . However, my brother-in-law alerted me at the last moment and I was able to apply brakes on time to avoid the fall in the ditch but the vehicle went down the slope a couple of meters. Luckily we did not encounter any damage and I have become more wiser after that incident not to allow any distractions while driving.